Blog: Wes’s thoughts, articles, and insights

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My most recent posts

Improvement is never linear

By Wes Trochlil | June 10, 2026

Improvement is never linear One of the many lessons one learns over a lifetime is that improvement, regardless of what you’re trying to improve, is never linear. That is, you’ll always have days where you’re better, and days where you don’t improve, or maybe even fall back. And so it is with data management. Even if you […]

Don’t forget to take a “before” picture!

By Wes Trochlil | June 3, 2026

Don’t forget to take a “before” picture! Whenever I start on a big home clean up or renovation project, I like to take a “before” picture, so that I can see the progress that was made when the project is complete. (Ironically, even though I’m the son of an award-winning amateur photographer, I often forget […]

Are you being penny wise and pound foolish?

By Wes Trochlil | May 27, 2026

Are you being penny wise and pound foolish? Two quick customer service stories to illustrate a point: First story: I’ve used the same email provider for more than 20 years. But for technical reasons, recently I needed to switch providers, so I canceled my service with them a few weeks in advance of my renewal. […]

AMS Products are getting better – and what that means for you

By Wes Trochlil | May 20, 2026

AMS Products are getting better – and what that means for you I’ve been working in and with AMS products for 36 years (27 years of consulting, nine years as an association staffer). And I can say with great confidence that the systems available today are much better than they were 36 years ago! (Shocking, I know.) But […]

Using AI beyond content generation

By Wes Trochlil | May 13, 2026

Using AI beyond content generation Recent surveys by ASAE and others suggest nearly 90% of associations are using AI for some type of content generation (e.g., creating blog posts, newsletter articles, “canned” responses to inquiries, etc.). That is great, but when it comes to data management, there are so many more opportunities for leveraging AI. Here are some ideas […]

Older Posts

Establishing Priorities

February 26, 2008

When converting to a new data management system, you are faced with many decisions regarding priorities. There is so much […]

Not every decision made will be correct

February 21, 2008

When working with associations on implementation of their databases, there are points throughout the process where we will have to […]

SIIA Release Survey on Social Media

February 19, 2008

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has released a survey of how businesses are using social media. The contents […]

FAQs – Do you have them?

February 13, 2008

FAQs are "frequently asked questions." My question for you is: Do you have FAQs on your website for your members […]

Serving Suggestions for your Database?

February 12, 2008

I was having some crackers and cheese spread (Wispride Port Wine) the other day, and noticed something on the side […]

A Simple Training Tip

February 7, 2008

If you do training, whether one-on-one, or in a classroom setting, here's a tip that will increase the learning retention […]

CRM Continues to Disappoint…and here's why

February 5, 2008

"CRM Continues to Disappoint" says the headline of this article on SearchCRM.com. In a nutshell, the companies that were surveyed […]

When is "Good Enough" Good Enough?

January 29, 2008

My friend and colleague Rob Pitzer at the Smithsonian Institution asked me a great question: "How do you deal with the […]

Great New Book Published by ASAE

January 24, 2008

Just received my copy of the book Membership Essentials from ASAE. The book is a collection of writings by association […]

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